LOST IN FRANCE

PART 1

BESANÇON OR BUST

I have been a keen sailor for many years and as our family grew up, I tried to persuade my wife Marjorie to join me. She gave it a fair shot, even trying a couple of Sunsail holidays, but after one too many bad experiences she suggested we try motor cruising instead. Encouraged by this, and with happy memories of family holidays in hire boats on the French canals, we agreed to look for a suitable craft.

We started with a well-used Broom 30, an ex-hire boat based on the Thames, but soon wanted to venture further afield. After spending time on the Broads–during which our boat was extensively refurbished by Broom–we began looking for something a little bigger and more suitable for coastal cruising. Impressed by Broom’s build quality and the accommodation which its aft cabin designs provide, we settled on a Broom 33 called La Strega, with a planing hull and twin TAMD 41b Volvos. We based her on the Medway for a few years and had a lot of fun exploring the south and east coasts of the UK, even getting as far as Holland.